By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former Zambian president Edgar Lungu’s family loses the appeal against the repatriation of his body to be buried in Zambia.
Lungu died on 5 June in Pretoria in South Africa where he was being treated for an undisclosed illness.
In its judgment, the Gauteng High Court held that there were no reasonable prospects of success for the appeal.
It also rejected the family’s contention that Zambian law had no extraterritorial effect and therefore should not apply in South Africa.
“As for the application of Zambian law, the court considered that the deceased was on a temporary visit to the Republic [of South Africa] for medical reasons,” the judgment reads.
The court further dismissed claims that Lungu had lost his benefits, highlighting that he still holds the status of a former president and is, therefore, entitled to burial benefits funded by the state upon his death.
It added that the agreement between the Zambian government and the family to hold a state funeral remained binding, despite assertions that Lungu had instructed that incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema should neither speak at nor attend his funeral.
“The mere fact that ‘FAA7’ records that the parties will consult and agree as to who will speak at all events does not vitiate the consensus that was reached, “the court said.
The matter was all supposed to have been settled in June, when the family initially agreed that there could be a state funeral in Zambia. But the plans were scuppered over a dispute about what role Hichilema would play.
Lungu’s family said one of his dying wishes was that Hichilema should not go anywhere near his body.
The key to understanding the animosity was the more than 100 days that Hichilema, opposition leader at the time, spent in detention in 2017, awaiting trial on treason charges.
He was accused of endangering the life of then-President Lungu after his motorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one transporting the head of state.
The charges were only dropped after intervention of the secretary general of the Commonwealth. This was one of several times that Hichilema was arrested while he was in the opposition.